Sweden in 2004

Area:

450,295 sq km (173,860 sq mi)

Population

(2004 est.): 8,991,000

Capital:

Stockholm

Chief of state:

King Carl XVI Gustaf

Head of government:

Prime Minister Göran Persson

The Swedish economy performed well in 2004, but the Social Democratic government under Prime Minister Göran Persson failed to reap the political benefits as unemployment and problems in public services dominated the news.

Boosted by strong exports, the country’s economy was expected to have grown by 3.5% in 2004. Although the strong U.S. dollar might slow Swedish exports in 2005, tax cuts and increased public spending were expected to stimulate domestic demand, and economic growth was projected to remain above 3%.

Swedish voters had elected to stay outside the euro zone in a national referendum in 2003, but interest rates continued to fall in 2004, reaching 2% in April in line with those set by the European Central Bank. Unlike many of its European Union colleagues, Sweden’s public finances remained largely in balance. While Swedish industry continued to be competitive in sectors ranging from telecommunications to automotive, however, there were few new jobs. Open unemployment was expected to reach 5.6% of the workforce, well above the government’s 4% target.

Away from the economy, the country still struggled to come to terms with the murder of Anna Lindh, the country’s foreign minister who was stabbed to death on a private shopping trip in central Stockholm in September 2003. Mijailo Mijailovic, a 25-year-old Swede of Serbian parentage, was convicted in March 2004 of the murder of Lindh, who had been heavily tipped to be the country’s next prime minister. At Mijailovic’s trial most of the details of the killing were undisputed, but Swedes were left with little idea of the motive for the attack. The main point of contention at the trial was whether Mijailovic had been seriously mentally ill at the time of the attack and therefore should be sentenced to psychiatric care rather than jail. Initially the court sentenced him to life imprisonment, but he was later placed under psychiatric care. After a legal battle, the Supreme Court ruled in December that Mijailovic would serve his life sentence in jail.

It had been thought that Persson might step down in 2004, but with his obvious successor gone, he had little choice but to continue as leader of the Social Democrats. Still stung from the political defeat he had suffered in the euro referendum, Persson seemed to lack enthusiasm for political debate in the early part of the year. The Social Democrats’ poor showing in the European Parliamentary election in June, his own health problems, and a bruising row over the nomination of the country’s European commissioner did little to improve the prime minister’s temper.

In the autumn, after a long summer break and a hip operation, Persson returned to the political fray with renewed vigour, reshuffled his government, and pledged to remain party leader through the next general election in 2006. The prime minister would have his work cut out, however, if the Social Democrats were to secure a fourth consecutive election victory. The opposition, headed by Fredrik Reinfeldt, the leader of the conservative Moderate Party, spent 2004 moving toward the political centre ground, and by December it had been rewarded with a steady lead in the opinion polls. Reinfeldt had toned down promises of large-scale tax cuts, instead insisting that a nonsocialist government would better run public services such as health and education.

Sweden was severely affected by the December tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. A large number of Swedes were vacationing in the area, and it was feared that the Swedish death toll could reach 1,000. (SeeDisasters: Sidebar.)